A Trek Through Darkness
by Overlord of Sarcasm
Summary: It starts as a low rumble, reminiscent of thunder, trains on a track, or even a subway roaring through a station. Things are flying at a dangerous speed. My only hope of survival is to get as deep into the ground as I possibly can, but I find no cover... I cannot kill them. Any of them. Already, I dread it... I stand still, hoping that they will miss me. Don't forget to R&R please!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N -** **Hey y'all, first of all, don't judge to harshly, this is one of my first fanfic. Second, don't hate me if my updating is sporadic, I'm in college and just doing this for fun. Fanfiction will always come after school! Also, I don't own this.**

Jim Lake Jr. arrives in the Dark Lands, and looks at his surroundings. He sees nothing, no sign of any sort of life, no sign of Enrique. He should have known it wouldn't be this easy, he should have known that, with his luck, he wouldn't have found Claire's brother so quickly. Because he sees nothing, he sits down for a moment, trying to let everything that had happened sink in. Aarrrggh is dead, as well as many other trolls from troll market, Walt is gone, and his mother is alone now. He really should have thought that through better before leaving, at least writing a letter before heading to what very well may be his death, as he did before when he fought Draal. Yet, he didn't. He had taken a flying leap headfirst into this fight, a fight which almost no one thought that he could survive. He stands back up, deciding he'd really rather not be here any longer than strictly necessary, and begins walking. He has no idea where he is going, but leaves none the less. He is tense, for not only is he the first human trollhunter, he is also here to try to survive the fight with Gunmar, which he is very much unprepared for.

 **SWITCHING TO 1** **ST** **PERSON POV!**

As I walk, I look down at my new sword. It is black and red, but apart from the colors and incantation for activation switching, it appears to be basically the same. I suppose, what with everything here being dark and gloomy, the darker theme to my armor will help me to blend in. When Blinky said that the amulet was attuned to my unconsciousness needs and awareness, I didn't expect it to be quite so extreme and detailed. As far as I know, this camouflage could be one of the only things keeping the dark trolls and Gumm-Gumms from finding me as of yet. I have been walking for nearly three minutes now, and I still have not seen any signs of life, however, there is an electrical feel to the air, giving it a sharp, dangerous sort of tang. At first, I think nothing of it, but I slowly begin to notice small signs of life. A goblin footprint here, and scales of stalklings on the ground in front of me. Yet, I cannot see the creatures themselves. It does not take me much longer to figure out the reason why.

It starts as a low rumble, reminiscent of thunder, trains on a track, or even a subway roaring through a station. The sound is familiar, but I cannot quite place it. That's when I see it. Things are flying upward at a dangerous speed, before coming crashing back onto the ground. Or rather, what's left of it. It appears that the rocks and boulders are not the only things flying. No, the earth itself is flying out of place, leaving gouges, tens of feet deep, in the ground, before falling back in imperfect patterns, adding to the landscape and creating dangerous pits of loose sand. There seems to be no real rhyme or reason to the madness, and this force is jumping wherever it wishes. It looks as if there is no known way to stop it. I dash for cover, knowing that my only hope of survival is to get as deep into the ground as I possibly can, and hope for the best in living through this backwards, upside-down, twisted version of an earthquake. I look around frantically. I haven't been trained for situations like this! I find no cover, and decide I may as well run like the untrained coward that I am. Who am I kidding? Why the troll would Blinky have felt a need to train me to prepare me for this sort of situation? It is of no consequence right now, I need to deal with the present problem. I run at the problem head on, because that has always worked for me before, and I hope for the best. I can see the nightmare creeping closer. Miraculously, I have not been sucked up into the vacuum. The noise is near deafening, and I just barely manage to avoid all of the falling rocks. I run and dodge for a grand total of twenty three seconds longer, before everything is silent.

The danger has passed, for now. The air, although it still feels and tastes dangerous, is slowly becoming slightly less electrical. I take this as a semi good sign. Sure, the immediate danger may be gone, but what of the trolls? They will, most likely, be coming out of hiding now. And they will see me, standing out in the open like an idiot, practically inviting them all to attack me.

I know that I will have to do something. It is likely that the first being I will meet are goblins. I cannot kill them. Any of them. There is a near endless supply of revenge-seeking goblins, and if I were to kill even one of them, they would hunt me down. Not only would that end badly for me, and poor Enrique would be stuck down here forever, and my mom would be all alone, and Claire would have to deal with NotEnrique for the rest of her life, and I know she would hate that. No, the best way to deal with them would be to avoid them altogether. Yet, I know that I have no real other choice than to run into them at one point or another. Already, I dread it.

I see my first sign of life. A goblin. It scuttles around on its fingertips like a demented crab, but doesn't come closer than a few yards away from me. I continue walking, watching it form the corner of my eye. I know that it is likely to notice my attention, but seeing how I have already noticeably glanced at it, it is too late for me to do anything about it. It sits there, just watching my progression. I know that I will have to fight at some point. This seems too good to be true. Yet, the gobbling sits there, doing nothing. I am soon out of eyesight of it, and reluctantly move away from it. I can only hope that it will not attack me as soon as I am unawares. I crest a hill, then immediately back down, trying to hide.

There is a family of stalklings. Sure, two of them may be a bit smaller, compared to the other two, but they are intimidating nonetheless. After taking a second glance, I realize that the stalkling which I fought must have been fairly young as well, for it was not nearly as large as the smallest of the pack which is before me. I try to skirt around the edge of the predators, but one of them takes off. I try to see where it is going, but the cloud cover is low, and the troll easily blends in with its natural habitat. Crouch lower, trying to remain unseen, but the stalkling which took off lands directly behind me, while another, previously hidden, appears on my right. I stand still, hoping that they will miss me.


	2. Chapter 2

Of course, I have no such luck. The two stalklings advance, and I hold up eclipse, hoping that I will, at the very least, be given a chance. For once, I am in luck. The trolls stop, halting just inches out of my swords reach. I do not dare advance, for I know that if I move in any sort of way that they may perceive as threatening, they will not hesitate to attack. Although neither of these are as big as the two large stalklngs in the basin between hills, they are still several times larger than either Aarrrgh or Draal, and I know that if they wished, they would be able to kill me quite easily. I lower the sword slightly, but only just. The larger of the trolls stands up taller, and begins trying to speak. I suppose it is intelligible, but it is loud and full of squawking. I understand the gist of it. It is asking to be allowed to project its thoughts to me. At first, I am unsure. What if they are able to use this connection as a sort of mind control? Yet, I know that I have no choice. It is either allow this, or die anyway. I nod my consent. For a moment, nothing happens, then I am attacked by a barrage of noises and pictures and sensations. I stumble momentarily, leaning on eclipse for support. The stalklings back off, giving me a moments respite, watch in amusement, then reestablish the connection. It is not nearly as bad as what it was before, yet it still takes a moment to get my bearings. Once everything has faded to background static, I hear a voice. I look around frantically for a moment, before my eyes come to a rest on the troll who spoke earlier. It nods, so I focus on the voice in my head, trying to listen. At first, I wonder if I am making a mistake, because I cannot hear it anymore, but it returns, and I am surprised to hear that, although it is gravely and raspy, it is also not as deep as I would have expected. It is not quite feminine, but the pitch almost rests at a high tenor position.

' _Why have you come, trollhunter?_ '

It is a valid question, and much easier to answer than others that it could have asked. 'I have come to retrieve my friend's brother, who is a changelings familiar, as well as to destroy Gunmar. So, like, I would really appreciate it if you left the maiming and killing for another time?' I laugh nervously.

Both throw their birdlike heads back and laugh. I am confused, and a little offended, yet I do nothing. I know that would most likely only end poorly for me if I did. I wait for them to finish laughing, before they give me an explanation.

' _You may smell like a troll, but you look nothing like one. You are barely strong enough to lift that sword, you will not be able to use it to kill that tyrant. How confident are you in your abilities? Have you even won a single battle yet?_ '

I look them in the eye, hoping that they will not take it as a challenge. I stand up taller, and tell the pair of my accomplishments. 'I single-handedly fought and killed Bular. I fought and defeated Draal, the son of the former trollhunter, in single combat, and gained an ally instead of a kill. Before entering this world, I, along with the help of my friends, killed Angor Rot, and you ask me if I am confident in my abilities?! Bular set a stalkling on me, which I fought and defeated. I killed it while hundreds of feet in the air, yet I still survived the fall. I have done all of these things, and yet you still ask if I am capable of surviving a fight?'

I realize that it may have been a mistake to tell the stalklings that I have killed one of their kind, but it is too late now. I can only hope that they are not like the goblins, attacking me to avenge their fallen kin. Thankfully, they do not, and only look at me thoughtfully. In my head, there is another voice, ' _Could he be the one destined to…'_ but I am cut out of the experience. I am curious, but know that I should not provoke them, if I value my life. Thus, I remain silent.

They seem to talk between themselves for a few moments, during which time I study my surroundings. What before I had perceived as rocky outcroppings, I can now see are mounds of soil with old bones littering the surface. There is a growth on and around them, but it is like nothing I have ever heard of or seen before. It is a strange color, one which I have never seen before. I find this odd, but realize that it is probably just something that only occurs in the Dark Lands. However, the more I look around, the more I realize that everything here is different, even paradoxical. There is a river which I had not noticed earlier, off to my left. It is not far away, but nonetheless, I am sure that I must be imagining everything about it. What should be water is replaced with a thick, swirly mixture of dark red and bright orange, along with that new color that has just recently appeared. It seems to be made of a type of molten rock, yet there are chunks of ice floating along the top. The sky is dark, and I can see no source of light, yet I can see everything perfectly fine, apart from a strange yellow green tinge coloring everything. This world, the Dark Lands is nothing but chaos, and I know that I must get out of here, before I am driven insane.

The stalklings turn their attention back to me, and I gulp. There are two of them, and I barely managed to defeat a small one alone, and both of these are much larger. I take a nervous step back, waiting for them to begin speaking. The larger one crouches down, nearly getting to my level. It circles me, studying me. It seems to be trying to decide what to do with me. I stand up taller, and let out a breath that I had not realized I had been holding. There is a soft _shink,_ and a soft glow, before eclipse and my armor are absorbed back into my amulet. Out of habit, I stretch out my hand to catch the amulet as it falls from my chest, yet nothing happens. The amulet remains, as if glued to my chest. I suppose that it may be considered a defense mechanism, as a way to ensure that it is always right where it belongs whenever I need it to protect me. The stalkling which had been circling me jumps back slightly when my armor disappeared, but has begun studying me with a renewed interest, going so far as to get within inches of my face, smelling me. There is no doubt in my mind that it is looking for a weakness that it may exploit. It backs away, with what can only be described as a curious look in its eyes. The other rears up, towering over me. I frantically ask it to stop, to allow me to save the baby before it kills me, and it pauses.

Now both stalklings are studying me, and I am dragged back into the combined minds against my will. There is an argument between the two, but I cannot figure out who is speaking at which point in time, nor can I tell which stalkling is arguing in my favor. Suddenly, the larger darts behind me, leans forward again, and before I have a chance to react, raps its neck around my body, with its head curled over mine, effectively immobilizing me. Wherever its bare skin touches mine, there is a slight electric shock, and just as suddenly as it began, it is over, and the stalkling unwinds itself from me. I back away, frightened, and without thinking, turn and run. I hear one of the trolls behind me take off, before I feel myself being lifted into the air from behind.


End file.
